Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, Nov 25: In a shocking incident, a mentally challenged woman was allegedly raped by two men near Makhdoom Sahib shrine in Srinagar.
The incident came to light after a Facebook post by a member of Srinagar-based women help group ‘Kashmir Women’s Collective’ who wrote that the woman after being raped became pregnant and delivered her child in open under extremely cold weather on November 20.
“The face of the mentally challenged woman who delivered a child in open on a roadside in this weather on Nov 20 and pulled out her foetus in pain isn’t letting me sleep in this cozy bed,” Mantasha Binti Rashid wrote in a heart-rending post.
According to Rashid, the woman’s family has distanced from her and she has been turned down by many Government agencies.
“The pain, trauma and the unstitched cuts on her body are not letting me complain of my backache. She’s mentally challenged and many like me are wasting away their mental faculties. Her family is distancing from her because she’s mentally challenged and now raped, and I am upset because my family sometimes seems to bother much about me,” Rashid added.
The incident has been reported to One Stop Centre for Women in Srinagar, which is run by the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development.
Sameena Mir, the state coordinator at State Resource Centre for Women, Department of Social Welfare, J&K, while replying to Rashid’s post stated that the case has come to their notice and they will assist in the required health and institutional care of the woman and her child.
The post sparked a much-needed debate on the absence of shelter homes for the victims of domestic abuse, rape and other crimes against women.
“In absence of proper shelter homes, it is very difficult for victim survivors to be supported. We must advocate for at least one professionally run shelter home for women. We are trying but no avail yet,” Rashid said.
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